Method of and means for grinding glass bottle stoppers



Sept. 23, 1-947. 7

c. B. GARwoon l 2,427,849

METHOD OF -AND MEANS FOR GRINDING GLASS BOTTLE STOPPERS v Filled Feb. 2B, 1945 a) f a INVENTOR.

Patented Sept. 23, 1947 METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR GRINDING GLASS BOTTLE STOPPERS Charles B. Garwood, Linthicum Heights, Md., assignor to Carr-Lowrey Glass Company, Baltimore, Md.

Application February 28, 1945, Serial No. 580,089

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a method of and a means for grinding glass bottle Stoppers.

Heretofore it has been the practice generally to grind each stopper within the neck of the bottle to be closed thereby. Aside from the fact that this has required the use of highly skilled labor, the practice has been objectionable because in every case it has been necessary, prior to shipment of the bottles, to fasten each stopper to the bottle with which it is to be used and this added labor in addition to the cost of grind ing, has made it impossible to produce the bottles and Stoppers at reasonable cost.

A further objection present where Stoppers are ground in the bottles is found in the fact that if the stoppers accidentally become detached from their bottles it becomes practically impossible to properly replace them and this results in a waste of material because unless there is a tight fit Ibetween the parts highly volatile substances such as perfumes will evaporate after the bottles have been closed.

An object of the present invention is to provide means whereby the Stoppers can be produced in large quantities without requiring highly skilled labor, it being possible to ship the stoppers separately from the bottles in view of the fact that every stopper ground in the manner disclosed will iit tightly in the neck of any bottle belonging to the same shipment.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in certain novel steps in the method of grinding bottle necks and bottle Stoppers and in certain novel means for carrying out the method, all of which will be hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings the means employed for carrying out the stopper grinding operations have been shown.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 illustrates the first step in the method of producing the stopper grinding die.

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the next step in the production of the die.

Figure 3 is an end View of the completed die. Figure 4 illustrates the step of grinding a stopper.

In practice there is provided a grinding mandrel of a standard taper which is used for grinding the inner surface of the neck of every bottle and in quantity production this mandrel will thus grind the necks of all of the bottles uniformly. This is not a difficult operation and can be formed by following practices well known to the bottle making industry. The problem heretofore present has been to so grind the Stoppers of the bottles as to insure sealing iits when they are seated in the lbottles but, as before explained, this has been possible solely by grinding the Stoppers individually within the necks of the bottles selected to receive them.

'Ihe present invention requires the use of a stopper grinding die which is prepared ina'new and novel manner and which can be used for grinding stoppers accurately and in rapid succession, each stopper thus finished being capable of forming a tight seal for any one of the bottles with which it might be associated. The die used consists of a sleeve I, of a moderately soft metal, such. as a copper alloy and this sleeve is provided with an angular flange 2. A hollow holder 3 formed preferably on a support engaging shank 4, is provided with a counterbore 5 terminating in a shoulder 6. The holder is screw threaded exteriorly as shown at 1 and is so proportioned that when the die I is in correct position for use it will be seated snugly against shoulder 6 while its flange 2 will also be seated snugly against the end of the holder. A clamping nut 8 engages the threaded portion of the holder and has an opening 9 in which the die'is fitted snugly. Obviously by tightening this nut it will bind the iiange 2 upon the holder and the end of the die against shoulder 6 so that the die will be held rmly against free rotation.

The opening or bore I0 extending through the die is tapered to approximate the taper of a stopper winch has been ground to a finish. To bring this taper to an accurate pitch so as to insure production of the correct taper when the stopper is ground, there is provided a hard metal-mandrel Il one end of which is carefully shaped to the exact taper to which the bottle stopper is to be brought. This, tapered portion I2 of the mandrel II is an exact counterpart of the tapered tool used, as ordinarily, in the grinding of the neck of a bottle.

After the die I has been placed in its holding means a portion of the tapered part I2 of the mandrel is provided with a thin coating of some substance, such as petroleum jelly, which is sufiiciently tenacious to hold a number of small diamond particles to the mandrel, these being placed indiscriminately around said tapered portion by any means desired. In Fig. 1 the coated material has been indicated at I3 while diamond particles have been indicated at I4.

After the diamond particles have been assem.

bled with the mandrel, said mandrel is inserted into the opening Il in the soit metal die I. By means of i. hammer or the like the end of the mandrel is tapped with suilicient force to cause the tapered portion I=2 to accurately shape the opening in die I and at the same time imbed the diamond particles in the wall of the opening I0. The mandrel is then withdrawn from the die and the operator has the assurance that the tapered portion of any stopper to which the die might be applied would be ground to a taper which would insure a sealing nt should the stopper be inserted into the neck of any one of the bottles previously ground by the corresponding mandrel utilized for that purpose.

Should the die show evidence of wear which might affect the accuracy of the grinding operation, all that would be required would be the reapplication of grinding material to the tapered portion i2 of mandrel II and a repetition of the forceful reinsertion of said portion into the die I for the purpose of eiecting redressing of the surface of the die and the addition of the grinding substance to said surface.

'I'he grinding operation is to be effected under water to insure against injury of the material and one way of carrying out this operation is to move a carrier I5 within a body of water W. This carrier can be provided with sockets I8 each Y adapted to receive the head I1 of a. stopper so as to hold the tapered portion I8 of the stopper in an upstanding position. 'I'hus as the carrier is moved with a step by step motion| the die, supported by its holder, which is held in a rapidly rotating chuck orlthe like, is lowered onto one of the Stoppers during each pause in the intermittent movement and lifted therefrom before the stopper is again moved. Consequently the grinding of Stoppers can be carried out on s, mass r production basis with the result that it does not become necessary to exercise extra care in shipping the bottles and their stoppers with the parts assembled. It will be noted that the die is formed the same predetermined size and taper which includes the step of seating s, soft metal tubular die in a holding means, applying fine particles of an abrasive to the surface of a hard metal mandrel of a predetermined diameter and taper, and finally driving the mandrel into the soft metal die thereby to simultaneously expand said soft metal die to the diameter and taper of the mandrel and embed the abrasive particles in the surface of the' soft metal die.

CHARLES B. GARWOOD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of ,record in the rile of this patent:

UNITED 'STATES PATENTS 

